Treasury report shows U.S. debts growing

The Treasury Department gave President Obama an early Christmas lump of coal on Friday: the 2011 financial report of the U.S. government, which shows rapidly rising debts and was immediately deemed unauditable by the Government Accountability Office.

The report from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner shows the government owes $17.5 trillion to its creditors, retirees, veterans and others.

Over a 75-year period, the hole grows to $65 trillion, according to former comptroller general David Walker -- $550,000 for every household.

The dual problems -- financial books that are deeply in the red and impossible even for accountants to understand -- top the list of priorities left undone by the president and Congress as they leave Washington for the holidays.

Little wonder Treasury released the financial statement and GAO's response on the Friday before Christmas.

"If the U.S. government was a public company, the board would be calling an emergency meeting and the CEO would be conducting conference calls to calm nervous investors who might otherwise be shorting the stock and dumping their holdings in the company's debt," Walker said.

"It's time for both Congress and the president to get serious and focus their attention on addressing our country's deteriorating financial condition."

The report is no surprise: While Obama and Congress finally settled on a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and Medicare payments to doctors, they have been unable to cut much from future budget deficits.

The GAO refused even to issue an opinion on the report for three reasons:

"Serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense that made its financial statements unauditable.

The federal government's inability to adequately account for and reconcile intragovernmental activity and balances between federal agencies.

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About David Jackson

David's journalism career spans three decades, including coverage of five presidential elections, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 2000 Florida presidential recount and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the White House for USA TODAY since 2005. His interests include history, politics, books, movies and college football -- not necessarily in that order. More about David